Changes
by shampoo192
Summary: It's a different world now. Anything can happen, and will it? Some Chuck/Sarah - hopefully lots of Team Bartowski action
1. Chapter 1

I don't own Chuck, but I sure wish I did.

I'm not really sure about the introduction, and I'm not sure where I should take this piece. I'm more of a stream of consciousness writer, so I don't do coherence and plot over chapters well. That's why this is my first longer-than-a-one-shot fic. I'm also not sure whether to make this more of a drama/angsty fic or a supernatural/sci-fi/adventure piece. Any reviews and suggestions would be helpful! Thanks a lot...

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Introduction:

"Sometimes I wish I was dead too."

Sarah, startled, turned, expecting to meet his face, but he was staring out the window. A window out of many windows they had come across, in their struggle to find their place, a place to finally feel safe.

She didn't try to chastise him; "I just try to push that thought out of my head." She knew they were both in a difficult place, physically and emotionally. His sentiment had been common recently.

She hesitantly walked toward him, pulling him close and resting her head on his back, the only luxury she allowed herself since it happened. She knew what he was looking at; it was what he was always looking at. She turned her gaze in the same direction and toward the barren horizon. The tumbleweed looked almost comical, turning and turning in endless circles across the yard. The trees no longer had their usual green foliage and it seemed as if the whole world was engulfed in an orange light. The sky was melted gold, which could have been beautiful under different circumstances.

They just stood there, her holding onto him, staring out the window.

He turned and faced her, pulling her arms away from his body. He stared into her eyes and said, "Thanks for staying with me. You've been like a best friend these past few days. You don't know how much your support has kept me going through this all." With that, he drew her in close again, head rested on her shoulder, and inhaling the deep scent of lavender and gunpowder.

Chuck turned his head and whispered in her ear, "And you know what the best part is?"

She grinned and replied, "We can say how we really feel."

They stood there, like grinning idiots, when a dark shadow interrupted their confessions and blemished the orange landscape.

Chuck's face registered with instant recognition.

"Casey!"

He bolted out the door, leaving Sarah ponder what had just been confessed and to observe from afar. They could talk more later.

"I knew you would make it! We got your message a few days ago…We were waiting." Chuck beamed and engulfed the weary man in a crushing hug, releasing days' worth of worry.

Casey, although never one for PDA, couldn't help but grin. "Keep it in your pants, Bartowski."

Casey extracted himself; "I couldn't get here earlier 'cause of the stupid morons who put the blockade the road. I searched all the possible places Bartowski; I went to your apartment, the Buy More, the hospital to look for Ellie and Devon … but I couldn't find anything." Casey finished the sentence with a rare hesitancy and averted his glance from Chuck's hopeful face.

Chuck, crestfallen, tried to hide his disappointment. "It's okay buddy…right? If you didn't find them at all, then they should be okay…I mean…they could just be hiding out too... at least Team Bartowski is back again." Trying to lighten the situation, he playfully butted Casey's arm and proceeded to lead the tired spy toward the cabin.

"Sarah's been here, protecting me, so you didn't have to worry."

"Hmph. Who said anything about me being worried? And I'm sure she had you covered, or…uncovered, the whole time."

Chuck's face turned a bright shade of pink, but he laughed it off. "It's been great really. Getting back in touch with nature…But sometimes I wish I could listen to some music or play some Call of Duty with Morg— " He stopped before it all came out. He wasn't quite ready yet.

Sarah, quiet the whole time, assessing their new situation with Casey, tried to interject as if nothing happened at all. She gestured her hands and explained to Casey, "We've just been on the lookout for others. I've tried to set up some minor surveillance with the equipment we had left, but it's really no use now is it?" She hesitated for a moment before saying what they all had on their minds, "General Beckman's gone. And there's nothing left. There are no orders. No rules. Everything's changed." She averted her gaze to Chuck.

"I know….I guess the Intersect isn't of much use anymore is it?"

Sarah stepped toward Chuck to say something, but surprisingly Casey spoke first. "Fumes must've gotten to your head, Bartowski. Who said we were here to protect the Intersect? Everything's changed moron. We're here for you."

Chuck, touched, stretched his arms out to bear hug the gruff NSA spy, but Casey adeptly maneuvered out of the sign of affection. "Just because everything's changed still doesn't mean you can hug me idiot."

Chuck sniffled, "I missed your snide comments."

Sarah chuckled and picked up Casey's bag, "I'll put this in your room."

Casey and Chuck were sitting down at the table when she came back. She knew how much an advantage having an extra man was, but that meant they also had to restock their food supplies: "We're running short on food, so we have to make it to the nearest supermarket…if they have any left. We've already checked the nearest drugstore and looters and things...got to it first. Plus I don't think we can survive much longer on Frosted Munchies."

Casey nodded. "You can take the man away from a mission, but you can't take the mission out of a man. Come on, its time to get crackin'."

Sarah gathered what guns and knives they had left, packed a large black duffel bag and threw Chuck the only reminder of the life he used to have, his black Buy More jacket.

"We can't go by car, its too conspicuous, so we'll have to trek it by foot. But we have to be careful about being quiet..."

"Great. Just coming back and I get to hear Bartowski complaining about his wussy legs? I need a drink."

"Hey hey, I resent that. My legs have gotten a lot stronger you know? I've been getting training."

"Oh I'm sure you have...."

Sarah sighed; it was going to be a long trip.

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So how was it? Good, bad, boring, needing of more action? I kind of have any idea of whats going to happen in the next chapter but any suggestions are always welcomed!

Please review.


	2. Chapter 2

_Hi everyone! I just wanted to thank all of you who reviewed and subscribed to this story! It's been a really great experience writing on here, and I love it very much so far. This chapter might not live up to all of your expectations, but I felt like more of an assertive "mission" had to be doled out before any type of fighting or action began. Any mistakes are mine alone.  
_

_Therefore...this is kind of a slower chapter than I had originally anticipated. But, please bear with me! The next chapter will see the introduction of new characters and definitely more action. Please read and review! I'd like to hear more of your suggestions, and I hope you'll stick with me in this long journey we shall be partaking in.  
_

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Hiding behind bushes while Casey and Sarah assessed the now abandoned Large Mart, Chuck allowed himself a temporary luxury: thought. For the past few days, he'd been moving almost robotically, with his emotions surfacing when he least expected it. He knew he had to think about the rest of the world for a moment, but fear of what his mind might piece together caused him to cower again at any thinking.

He could try again later.

Today, he was told to "Stay in the bushes." Kind of ironic, he thinks. Just to make sure, Casey gave him a gun, but the weight on his hand was unfamiliar, even unwanted. Uneasy, he left the gun beside him. Returning his line of sight to the store, he noticed a blonde head popping in and out of the aisles and a taller, darker head heading toward the drinks.

Chuck smiled at Casey's prudent choice of drink and tried to keep still in his squatting position.

Chuck could almost smell the welcome aroma of whisky after their "mission." He couldn't wait to drown himself in some of the liquid. Mid-daydream, Chuck's nose crinkled at a strange smell that definitely was not whisky. Peering over the bushes, he noticed a strange cloud of smoke hanging over the mountains. Deducing the smell had something to do with the smoke, he began walking in that general before he went too far, he reached into his pocket and extracted a lunky walkie talkie. Turning on the transmitter, he whispered, "Something smells funny. Going to check it out." Without listening to any responses, he flipped the switch and followed the darkening horizon.

Sarah, worried that Chuck would do something stupid, waved to Casey and told him to keep gathering supplies. She sighed and wondered why Chuck, who always ran away from strange smells, decided to check it out today, of all days.

She thought it had something to do with the Frosted Munchies.

She silently cursed when she realized Chuck had left his gun behind. She pulled out her gun from behind her back, and silently treaded on the fallen leaves. She continued on the path, following his footprints, and wondered where the heck he went in such a short time. Seeing smoke in the distance, she raised the gun to eye level, and she tentatively whispered, "Chuck?" Then, all of a sudden, she felt a force pulling her down, and she felt a warm hand cover her mouth. She spun her head around, ready to shoot the offender, but she found herself staring at some very familiar brown eyes.

He brought his finger to his lips; "Shhh…Look…."

Chuck gestured with his head to one direction, and Sarah let out a small gasp. It was surreal.

Government workers, clad in large HAZMAT suits, almost seemed to be an extension of the fires they were making. One by one, they dumped bodies from the thousands piled high, into the flames. Thousands of wives, husbands, and children were just being picked up and thrown onto the ever growing charred remains in the orange orb. Black, almost opaque plumes of smoke were rising quickly into the sky, seeming almost as if the fire gave birth to a monster. The process of dumping the bodies looked almost mechanized, and even after years with the Agency, Sarah had never seen quite such an undertaking.

"I don't know why we didn't notice those black smoke clouds when we came."

Startled, Sarah turned to face Casey. She hadn't even noticed he had come. Not wanting Chuck to see anymore of this, she put her hand on his shoulder and pulled him away from the carnage.

Chuck silently let himself be led away. In his heart, he prayed that Ellie and Awesome were not part of the cruel, cruel pile. He just wouldn't be able to take it anymore.

On the way back to the cabin, she noticed that Chuck was shuffling his feet, keeping his head down, and mumbling something under his breath. The gravity of the situation had just hit them all now. Casey, trying to cut through the tension, began talking about all he took from the Large Mart; "I got a few bottles of Jack Daniels, some Frosted Munchies and assorted nuts, some sandwiches that I think don't have any mold, a bunch of beef jerky, and all the medicine I could get."

Chuck and Sarah nodded, too preoccupied to make any comments, and they walked in silence for the rest of the way.

Arriving at the cabin just before dusk, Casey watched Sarah and Chuck settle into their nightly ritual and shed their brooding moods for the sake of sanity. Chuck moved wooden boards to cover the windows, she nailed them in, and they triple bolted all entrances and exits. Sarah then proceeded to pull out a small emergency radio out of its usual hiding place and set it on the dining table.

Chuck explained, "It's for any news from anyone. And we want to know what happened that caused all of this, so we've been trying to get any information."

She flipped on the switch and the radio crackled to life. After a few turns of the knob, they heard a voice.

_Hello? Hello? This is an emergency alert for all residents in the Los Angeles area. I repeat, this is an emergency alert for all residents. Please proceed to the Los Angeles International Airport, where all survivors of the blast will be sent to secure locations. We need all residents to proceed immediately…_

_Hello? Hello? This is an emergency alert for all res—_

Even though surprised at the new broadcast, Sarah switched off the radio. They were all silent for a brief moment to absorb the new development.

But Chuck, desperate for the chance to forget all that had happened, immediately blurted, "We have to get out of here. We can't stay locked up in here forever. We have to go to the airport. We have to go. We just have to."

His hands were shaking.

And it didn't go unnoticed.

Casey and Sarah looked at each other, "I don't know, Chuck. Its a hundred miles away from here. Remember we were trying to get _out_ of LA?"

"And look where it got us. How much longer are we going to be running? We don't even know where the heck we're going and at this rate, we're going to be drained of supplies and energy soon. This is the perfect time to leave. We just restocked our supplies and we can leave tomorrow…I say we hop a plane and get the hell out of here…And who knows, Ellie and Awesome might have heard the broadcast too…"

Sarah, still uneasy, looked to her partner. "We don't even know where they're going to take us."

Casey, silent throughout the whole exchange, stood up abruptly and leaned over across the table, eye-to-eye with Chuck.

"I know we won't be able to stop you when you get some stupid idea in your head, Bartowski. But I want you to consider the fact that for the next hundred miles, we're going to have to shoot, fight, and kill our way to get to that airplane. Not to mention we're going to have to walk the whole way. We're going to be in constant danger, especially at night. We don't even know if there are any safe cities left…Are you willing to risk your life for that hope of a normal place when it might not even exist?..."

Casey's voice then became eerily low, "_Are you willing to risk our lives… your life?_"

Chuck, who never wavered his eye contact, confidently rebutted, "If there was any hope of going somewhere, anywhere better than this, I would risk my life. If there was any chance that I could see my family again, I would risk my life. If there was any chance that all three of us could escape this ungodly place and feel safe again, _I would risk my life. I would do anything for this team._"

Sarah and Casey, taken aback by the conviction in his words, couldn't refuse him. Chuck Bartowski was very convincing when he tried.

Casey, tired from his trip, tired from the "mission," and tired of always protecting the Intersect, was finally going to do something to protect _Chuck_, his friend. He sighed and relented, "You can't go there by yourself, Bartowski. You can't get rid of us that easily…Semper Fidelis, Semper Fi. We'll get some rest tonight and head out, together, for the airport tomorrow morning."

And so Casey stood up and went to his room.

Still in shock from the unfamiliar surge of confidence and Casey's approval, Chuck remained seated and closed his eyes. He brought his hands up to his temples, but felt them quickly get brushed away. They were instead replaced by a coolness on his face, and so he opened his eyes to a pair of blue ones. Her hand softly stroked his face, and she softly murmured, "I will follow you to the ends of the earth…_We_ will follow you to the ends of the earth."

He could barely catch her words, but her touch said everything. Even though the timing wasn't right, with no more obstacles in their way, he had confidence in their relationship. But all too soon, she slowly moved her hand away from his cheek, and she too returned to her room.

Her touch still lingered on his face and was the last thing he thought about when he drifted into a fitful sleep on the couch.

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_Please review! It helps me better my writing and it helps you get a better story! _

_More action next, less angst, and hopefully more comedy spouting from Casey. I promise.  
_


	3. Chapter 3

_Sorry bout the delay! My laptop had viruses all week, and it had to be system restored :(  
My strong point is definitely not length, but I'm trying to add as much detail as I can....it just always ends up around the same word count..._

_I'm not exactly sure how this is all going to end up, but I hope that you can at least read and review! Thanks for all the support everyone gave!  
_

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He was standing in the Buy More, witnessing possibly the most beautiful thing: Jeff, Lester, Anna, and…Morgan, huddled around the Nerd Herd counter, laughing. They were hatching some inane plan that probably had something to do with Emmett, but he wanted to be with them so badly, no matter how absurd. He wanted to laugh so badly. He wanted to feel at home so badly. He tried to reach forward, tried to step toward them, but he never seemed to reach them. Again and again, stepping forward, running forward, flailing his arms at them. Desperately calling out, reaching out, extending his fingers as far as he could. Finally collapsing on his knees, he was reduced to blubbering words and phrases, his voice already past the stage of being discernible. And when he lifted his head again, he was in his house, in front of his apartment. Lifting himself off the ground, he peered into the window and saw Ellie and Awesome eating breakfast, laughing. They seemed so happy. Didn't they know that he was there? And then, he couldn't take it anymore. Immensely frustrated, he banged on the front door, wanting to be let in, wanting to be with them. Shouting and shouting, wanting to be with his family, screaming and screaming. They couldn't hear him. Nobody could hear him. And then he heard it. He heard somebody calling to _him_. A hollow, echoing voice surrounded him in the courtyard. Who was that? It sounds…so familiar...

"Chuck?... Chuck?.... CHUCK!"

He jerked his head and opened his moist eyes to an anxious Sarah. She had one hand on his shoulder, tightly gripped, and the other brushing the hair from his forehead. "I was worried. You were screaming in your sleep. Are you all right?"

Embarrassed at his moment of weakness, Chuck merely brushed off her concern; "I'm fine. It's nothing really. I don't want you to worry." Definitely worried but nonetheless relenting, Sarah reluctantly extracted her hand and left to pack their bags.

He heard Casey grunt somewhere in the darkness. "If you're up Bartowski you might as well help out before we leave." Chuck, eager to put the dream behind him, quickly folded his blanket and headed toward Casey's voice. Putting his hands before him to test his surroundings, he was momentarily distracted when he came in contact with the lamp. Suddenly, he whipped around at the slight sound of a snicker, "Always the clumsy one…But hey, if you scream that loudly for your Nerd Herd pals, I wonder what it's like when you dream about Agent Walker...eh?" Even in the darkness of the living room, Chuck could see Casey's wink clearly. He felt his face burning up at the suggestion, and he brought his hands to his face. "For your information Casey, I don't dream about Sarah." Another grunt emitted from the bulky figure. "Yeah well, cause you don't need to anymore. You got laid."

Chuck's face turned even brighter red. "I did not!"

Chuck paused for a moment, "How do you know anyway?"

Casey smirked with the all-knowing smile of an experienced agent. "You got laid."

He walked away and left Chuck even more embarrassed than before.

"He's like Matt Parkman or something."

* * *

The rest of the early morning saw Team Bartowski huddled around the dining table with a large, tattered map of southern California sprawled across it.

Sarah used her pen to point at various points on the map: "We're going to go along this highway for a bit, but we're going to need to veer off the main roads for a bit once we get closer to the city."

"What are we going to do at night?"

"Hopefully find somewhere to stay. Or else, we're going to have to take shifts because that's when _they _come out. Nasty bitches."

They all paused for a moment to process the daunting task before them…until Casey decided to say what was on all of their minds.

"The whole world's coming to hell, and we're about to go back into the hell hole."

Chuck sat down for a moment and leaned onto one arm. He sighed; "I just wish it wasn't coming straight out of Resident Evil."

Sarah, brushing the hair from her face, took a good look at Chuck. Over the past week, just living with him gave her the chance to learn everything about him, every mannerism and the origin of every nerdy comment. She learned that he liked to prop his head up with his hand when he was discouraged, so she put her hand on his shoulder to reassure him, just barely stopping herself from running her fingers through his hair in front of Casey. "Chuck, I know that this situation seems hopeless, but we're here for you. Don't give up; this isn't the time to sit down…." She took her hand off his shoulder and went over to the newly unobstructed windows. She peeked through and turned back to the table: "The sun's almost up, so it's about time to leave."

Chuck looked into her eyes and nodded. He wearily stood up again, and picking up his bag, he walked to the door.

Folding up the map and taking the discussed plan, Sarah scanned the room for any last items she might have forgotten. Casey nudged her arm, pointed to the cabinet, and walked out the door. Realizing that she forgot to pack the radio, she quickly snatched the device up from its resting place and placed it in her bag. She glanced back and saw that Casey had already left toward the road. Chuck, also outside the door, impatiently called out to Sarah; "Are you coming?" She lingeringly glanced back one more time at the abode that she and Chuck had called home for the past week. She closed the door and whispered, "It's time to go home."

* * *

It was noon. Three figures were limping slowly across the desert road. One, in a tank top with her dirty blonde hair messily put into a ponytail, another, walking confidently with a gun by his side, and the last, with a shirt wrapped tightly around his head and walking as if he were drunk. Chuck reached around to his pack and tried to grab his water bottle, but realized that it was almost empty. "Shit!" Sarah quickly grabbed her water bottle and passed it to Chuck: "Here, I still have some left." Tossing his own bottle back into his backpack, Chuck politely refused her help; "It's yours and its my fault for drinking too much anyway. I don't want you to end up without any water." She pushed her bottle back into his face; "Chuck Bartowski, I am ordering you to drink this! My body has been trained to withstand this. Yours hasn't." Taken aback by the force of her words, Chuck apologetically downed some of the water and gave her his big Bartowski grin. He leaned into her ear and whispered, "I'll find a way to pay you back later..."

Meanwhile, Casey, trying to act tough, sauntered ahead of the group, but anyone could tell his resolve was breaking down. He was squinting in the increasingly bright sun rays, and his pace had decreased to a sluggish pace. Sarah started to linger behind, trying to help Chuck along, and she extended an arm to help him stay standing. He looked at her, apprehensive to accept anymore help but smiled at her assistance and put his arm around her shoulders to steady himself. On the move, they were constantly on the move, beside endless brown shrubs and the endless expanse of dry mountains. And for the next couple of hours, the rag-tag team limped along toward the Los Angeles Airport.

* * *

It was almost dusk. The grey clouds seemed to glow as the sun passed over the mountains behind them. Back on the road, a faint sound of humming could be heard. To ease the silence between them, Chuck was humming _Eye of the Tiger_. But soon, the day's walk caught up with him, and Chuck started wheezing in the dust-filled air. Sarah, although amused by his music of choice, was barely able to keep standing, let alone help Chuck to stand. And Casey, well, Casey saw it first. The haze of dust softened the image, and he had to rub his eyes a few times to assure himself that it was really there. A house. On the side of the road. A house. The windows were boarded up with large wooden planks, and the white paint was chipping even in the wind. Even the porch swing, squeaking eerie noises seemed to conspire with the bare trees and crab grass to give the whole lot an ominous feeling.

"Come on! Thank god some dumbo decided to build a house here of all places," he shouted as he waved back to the hobbling duo.

"Did you hear that? We might be able to get some water, take a shower, maybe even get to stay in a house tonight…Although it _is_ a creepy house." Chuck pushed the last thought out of his mind, and let his face light up with anticipation at the thought of being able to wash his body from the day's grime and disappointment.

Disappointment. It seemed as if no matter how fast they walked, how diligent they were, the roads never seemed to end. When he and Sarah went to the cabin, they used a car, but now, cars were far and few in between and it was dangerous to attract attention now, when every survivor was on high alert. He hoped he wouldn't be disappointed again.

Trudging across the wilting flowers and dead leaves, Casey started to circle around the side of the house: he could never be too careful. But before he could go far, a sudden bang caused their heads and guns to turn simultaneously toward the door.

It was not what they had expected. _She_ was not what they had expected. Although, Chuck _was_ expecting Leatherface in a place like this.

She had long, brunette hair, a few inches past her shoulders, and her bangs swept across her forehead in the dry wind. She wore a long sun-dress with faded sunflowers across a beige background, and her skin was pale, pale as if she hadn't seen the sun in weeks. Her puffy eyes and weary look betrayed her state: someone who had suffered immense loss. Chuck admired her stance, and she would have looked classically beautiful if it weren't for her imposing, military boots paired with a large assault rifle in her hands. He looked over to his buddies to gauge their reactions at the young woman and was surprised at Casey's genuine smile. Looks like he was going to have something to tease _him_ with.

The woman's slight glance between Casey and Sarah indicated that she had noticed their weapons, but her wavering tone betrayed her attempt at a harsh glance; "Who are you? Get off my property!"

Casey opened his mouth to reply, but Chuck stepped forward first; "Excuse me ma'm, we've been walking in the sun for the whole day, and we'd appreciate it if we could stay here for the night and refill our water."

Her eyes suspiciously flitted once again between the two taller men and the blonde.

"Who are you anyway? Nobody passes along here."

"We're trying to get back to LA. We heard a radio broadcast about getting to the airport..."

"Going back there? You're all crazy. There's nothing there left for you!"

"_Please_ ma'm, can we stay?"

"Fine! But I'm warning you. If you do anything weird, I won't have any reservations at kicking you out...even if its night."

Sarah looked over at Casey and nodded, "We'll take our chances."

The woman proceeded to close the door coldly behind her, leaving no warm welcome, but the trio let themselves inside. They were unsure of what to do with themselves but were most surprised at the smell of toast. "I'm sorry I didn't come off as more friendly, but you can't be too sure about people, especially now. Kept to myself before the explosion and didn't see much reason for it to change. Go on, make yourselves at home. And tell me more about this--this trip you're taking to the airport."

Chuck and Casey sat themselves down at the couch.

Sarah, though, touched at the woman's showing of hospitality, walked over to the kitchen and extended her hand: "Thanks so much for opening your home to us. My name is Sarah."

The woman smiled at her first human contact in a while. She grasped Sarah's hand firmly, as if her touch had woken something in her heart that had been long gone.

"My name is Layla."

* * *

_Hello :)  
I don't think I lived up to all the promises I made, but I hope this story is limping along just fine. I know there has been much confusion over what happened, and I hope to answer all of the great mysteries in the next chapter. Plus I hope to bring the Sarah/Chuck story line forward next.  
_


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